Cooking a traditional German Christmas dinner
If you want to cook a traditional German Christmas dinner, you should familiarize yourself with the traditional German way of celebrating Christmas, To understand why some people prefer the goose, others the wild boar and still others the traditional sausage Explain Christmas dish. Did you know that in Germany, around 1950, Christmas Eve was part of Lent? It was not until Christmas Day that Christians were allowed to eat meat.
What you need:
- a 3 kg goose
- mugwort
- 200 g chestnuts
- 2 onions
- Tomato paste
- 2 apples
- 100 g raisins
- 300 g currant
- 500 ml dry red wine
- 100 g cranberries
- poultry stock
- beer
- honey
A traditional German Christmas dinner didn't have to be festive
Maybe that counts goose for many people as a traditional German Christmas dinner. But that was not always the case and in various regions of Germany, for example, B. a game dish as a traditional German Christmas dinner. That the Christmas roast goose, which is said to go back to the custom of the "Martin's goose", is wrong.
- In the Middle Ages, Christmas Eve was the last day of Advent Lent. For this reason a fish was prepared and served. In the time of the German Middle Ages, many monasteries bred carp, which is why carp prevailed as a Christmas Eve dish. It was not until the next day, on Christmas Day, that Christians were allowed to feast.
- Depending on the wealth of a family, a roast pork or wild boar was prepared. In medieval times, poorer families were content with simpler dishes. An original, traditional, German Christmas dinner was that roast pork, who was called "Mettensau". Since Christmas Day was a special holiday, instead of potatoes usually prepared dumplings.
- In 1588, Elizabeth I was served in Great Britain. a goose on Christmas Eve. While she was enjoying her feast, she received the news that the English fleet had triumphed over the Spanish armada. With joy at this victory, declared Elizabeth I. the goose as an integral part of every Christmas dinner. The goose is a traditional English Christmas meal that was only adopted by some German households decades later.
The development of the Christmas dinner continued
- In Germany, Christmas is one of the most important ecclesiastical festivals for Christians. Since the former pagan solstice celebrations were celebrated around December 24th to December 26th, 325. n. Ch. States that the consecrated night of the birth of Christ should be celebrated on these days. Until the fifth century Christians celebrated "Christmas"very simple.
Christmas is just around the corner and you are expecting guests to eat. Then, a ...
- The first traditional German customs with nativity scenes, Christmas carols and festive decorations developed after the 5th Century. Between the 16th and 19th In the 19th century, the Christmas customs with romantic decorations increased. Symbols of life, like evergreen fir trees, were put up. Nocturnal Christmas masses, visits to the cemetery, stories and gifts became part and parcel of German Christmas. But Christmas Eve was still a day of fasting.
- Christmas Eve in Germany is the prelude to Christmas. Shops often close at 2 p.m. and in the families the children wait for their "presents", which is why one renounced large menu preparations, especially since as a Christian one was / is still bound to the day of fasting. That is why many German households have a quick fish dish on Christmas Eve, e.g. B. Carp or baked yeast dumplings. At night, after midnight, when the Christmas mass was over, the first "gourmet dish", bratwurst, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes served.
- From 1950 onwards, some rituals gradually changed. The Christmas mass was attended less and less, the nightly meal was canceled and temporarily carried over to Christmas Day as a traditional German Christmas dinner. However, in some areas, the simple one was relinquished relatively quickly menu with bratwurst in favor of delicious meat dishes that are now regional or family-oriented from goose, duck, Carp or roast meat exist of any kind.
How to prepare a traditional German Christmas dish
If you have a traditional Christmas dish Wild want to prepare, you have the following Game recipe to disposal. If you would like to prepare a traditional German Christmas dinner that has been handed down from England, try the following suggestion:
- Wash the goose well, dry it and season with salt and pepper on the outside and inside. Chop the onion, mugwort, and apples and mix everything with the raisins.
- Pour the mixture into the goose and sew the opening shut with kitchen thread. Place the goose breast up in the roasting pan and pour the Fund added. Let the goose stew in the oven at 180 degrees for 50 minutes and pour over it in the meantime.
- After 50 minutes, turn the goose over. Let them stew for another 1.5 to 2 hours. Pour the stock over the goose every twenty minutes. After cooking, collect the stock in a bowl.
- For the sauce, toast some tomato paste in oil and add the stock, red wine and water. Let the sauce boil down well for about an hour, then strain it and season with cranberries, currant jelly and spices.
- Put the goose in a baking dish. Mix them up honey, beer and goose fat and brush the skin of the goose with it. Let them cook at 170 degrees for about 20 minutes. Serve The goose with red cabbage and dumplings.
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